Tesda chief linked to ASG arrested

Police officers, backed by soldiers, detained the wife of a pro-Islamic State (IS) subleader in an operation at dawn Tuesday in the southern Philippine province of Basilan.

Hataman was in niqab when taken out of her house in Isabela City.

Muaida Hataman is also the provincial director of the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda) in the said province.

Radzmir Janatul, Hataman’s husband, is being hunted down by security forces for being a member of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.

Janatul, one of the lieutenants of the notorious Abu Sayyaf leader Puruji Indama, was not at home when police operatives searched the house, but security forces recovered rifle grenades and a blasting cap, including components for improvised explosives.

The woman was taken to Zamboanga City and is being cross-examined at the regional headquarters of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police.

The woman did not give any statement to journalists. While no other details were made available by the police or military on Hataman’s interrogation as of writing.